This letters package was edited after online publication to delete an erroneous letter.
How about bringing back legal betting to St. Lucie County?
We had an off-track bettering facility in Fort Pierce on King's Highway.
My wife and I enjoyed it very much. As we grow in Port St. Lucie, we should bring it back, working with the tribal Seminole casinos.
Maybe it can happen.
Miguel Gonzalez, Port St. Lucie
Shame to demean middle school of accused kidnapper
It is with regret that the middle school that the alleged 13-year-old kidnapper attended in Indian River County was published.
To all of the fine people at that middle school, I apologize and understand your feelings regarding the publication of your school as the school he attended. First of all, the school attended has no relevance to the crimes allegedly committed. In addition, the crimes allegedly committed occurred while school was not in session for the summer.
Please realize the good teachers and staff, students and community members of this school are to be praised for all of their efforts. To have any school labeled as if the school community contributed in some way to such deeds is unfair and shortsighted.
I would hope the supplier of this information, whether it was the sheriff's office or this publication, would revisit their information release policies and consider stopping this practice.
Chuck Evans, Vero Beach
Why do lawmakers not stand up to unethical justices?
Many of us have heard of the Federalist Papers, yet, like most, I actually knew very little about them. So I decided to wade into them and found that Alexander Hamilton was quite wordy and could have made a point with fewer words.
One of his points was there was great advantage to remaining a solid, combined union, and not breaking up to smaller groups of states. Of note today is that Hamilton understood the importance of a requirement for Supreme Court justices to have continued tenure. To be continued in office required good conduct. Appointment to the Supreme Court is considered to be for a lifetime. However, this should be conditional, such as in the case for lesser judicial appointments.
Justices need to be above the appearance of questionable conduct at all times. Why then are some receiving gifts, ranging from trips, motor homes and other financial benefits?
Another thought to consider is displaying flags incorrectly, particularly those that support political movements, such as those that highlight support for the Jan. 6 attempted revolution and violence.
As Americans, we should expect justices to live up to their high positions of responsibility. Remember that when appearing before the Senate for confirmation, they often did not lie, but just practiced to deceive, which may be called distinction without difference.
How many politicians have dared to call this out? Is this a form of shameless complacence or cowardly ignorance? You be the judge?
Charles Davis, Stuart
New voting laws make elections more credible
Regarding Bart Jansen article, “New voting laws limiting drop boxes spark concerns,” there is no need for concerns.
The article states how reducing the number of ballot boxes under new laws requiring further monitoring will negatively impact elderly, disabled and “black and brown” voters. The abuse of ballot boxes has been a source of nationwide voter fraud. We don’t need ballot boxes at all.
Elderly, disabled and “black and brown” voters can mail the ballots from their own home mailboxes, or from the many mailboxes and post offices in areas when they conduct necessary business.
The ballot boxes and the ubiquitous claim about minorities being excluded is a cover to rig our elections in much the same way there is an outcry to not require an ID to vote, which will also allow illegal immigrants to vote. Almost every function of life, including obtaining a welfare check, requires an ID. Identification secures the integrity of our elections and preserves our republic, which benefits all citizens, regardless of demographic.
The article states that newly enacted state laws require more monitoring of ballot boxes, which is appropriate, but elimination of them will resolve that burden. It also mentions that voters must now request absentee ballots, which also secures our voting process and eliminates unsolicited multiple ballots being distributed to ineligible voters or those not voting at all, including dead people.
The new commonsense laws do not make voting harder. They make it more secure and honest, but some personal effort must still be made. Part of responsible citizenship means having some skin in the game and the exercise of civic duty need not be handed to us on a silver platter.
Douglas Wrenn, Vero Beach
Anyone more boorish than Trump?
Has the United States ever had a more boorish person running for office than Donald J. Trump? He talks and acts like a Mafia don.
Is this the kind of education Wharton turns out? If I were a Wharton administrator, I would be so embarrassed. In fact, Wharton was told to bury Trump's marks.
Harry Truman, who never went to college, was a genius compared to Trump. Does anyone running for office talk and act like Trump? He thinks talking and acting like he does that he appeals to his MAGA base.
Why would anyone want a person running for president to act like he does? Our allies all over the world can't believe the United States has a person of Trump's character running for office.
Rita Wolper, Stuart
Harris, Boy George have something in common
In September 1983, Boy George and the Culture Club released their hit song, "Karma Chameleon." It rose to No. 8 on the charts. The essence of the song described a person who would suck up to everyone to be popular.
Today, we have another chameleon, Kamala Harris. In case you've forgotten, here are the things she championed back in 2020:
1. Opposed fracking; now she favors it.
2. Against offshore drilling; now she says this may be the way to go.
3. Against border enforcement; now she is calling for stricter laws.
4. For defunding the police; now she supports funding law enforcement.
5. Supported mandatory private gun buyback; now she is against it.
These are just a few of her chameleon changes; there are more.
Remember the words of the song before you vote: "Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon, you come and go, you come and go ... "
Ray Mancari, Vero Beach
Trump can't shed Project 2025 yoke
Donald Trump is straining to break free of a political albatross around his neck called Project 2025. The 922-page blueprint for governing is the creature of the conservative Heritage Foundation.
Steeped in Christian nationalism, the project's intent is to radically change the federal government to reflect the most extreme right wing policies.
“I have no idea who is behind it,” Trump claimed on social media.
He should. Paul Dans, director and mastermind of Project 2025, was chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management in the Trump administration, overseeing 4,000 employees. He was known for replacing career civil servants with unqualified Trump loyalists
Project 2025 had a "great relationship" with Trump, Dans said. Then Trump successfully bullied the Heritage Foundation to fire Dans.
There's more. Six cabinet members appointed by Trump were among the 140 administration officials who contributed in some fashion to Project 2025.
As if that weren't enough, JD Vance, his beleaguered vice-presidential pick, wrote the foreword to a forthcoming book based on Project 2025, "Dawn's Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America."
Trump said that some of the extreme proposals of Project 2025 are ridiculous, but. beyond that, claimed ignorance about its contents. Yes, he may be incapable of absorbing the project's complexity, but can you really believe his former colleagues and campaign staff haven't shared the plan with him?
Many elements of Project 2025 align with his own authoritarian agenda, such as denying women the right to choose, mass deportations, tax cuts for the most wealthy and dramatically expanding the power of the president.
In addition, Trump will be free to hire the thousands of loyalists recruited by the Project 2025 staff to replace as many as 50,000 career civil servants.
Project 2025 was created for Trump. He can't shed the albatross.
Richard Leonard, Vero Beach
Shouldn't everyone support citizen-only voting?
Must all voters for local, state and federal elections be U.S. citizens? A recent article here seemed to bemoan the extra burden of now having to prove it.
The Arizona citizenship rule shouldn’t be that burdensome if you care that only U.S. citizens should vote in U.S. elections.
“Currently, in Arizona and elsewhere, people can register without showing papers and attest that they are legal citizens under penalty of perjury,” the article said. But to only “attest” doesn’t sound very secure. If you just illegally entered the country, do you have enough civil integrity to attest to anything? Lying on a department of motor vehicles application, then checking a box for citizenship to get on that county’s voter roll is more than just a fib.
The same article warned that fewer drop boxes “spark concerns.” Gov. Ron DeSantis has shrunk the number of those super convenient boxes. COVID is over. Accommodating special cases exist, but it’s not too difficult to drive to the voting booth or the now-lonely drop box.
Americans should be proud to show their civic duty in person, at the same time preventing foreigners from assuming our sacred right. Real reasons for absentee voting should continue, but the vote-by-mail morass invites non-govermental agenices to “help” newcomers get to vote. And despite what some Democrats wail, no one is too poor to vote.
Millions of “new Americans” are being pushed to vote by nongovernmental organizations that say having proof of citizenship is too onerous, “suppressing rights.” Supervisors of elections will welcome the SAVE Act rolling around Congress now, which ensures only citizens will vote in their counties. This law would require people on county voter rolls to produce valid documents when demanded by county, state or federal election professionals.
Who can be against only votes from citizens counted in our country?
Norman Grant, Vero Beach
Thoughts on the Olympics opening ceremony
I’m not a Christian. I was brought up in a Jewish home. My opinion can be disregarded. In fact, that’s why your keyboard has a delete button. Yet as an outsider, I disagree with the rationalization of many Christian religious leaders who choose to remain silent.
The difference lies between passivism vs. pacifism. I can understand being a pacifist. One who has an opposition to violence and war. Yet passivity, or non participation or inactivity toward supporting the strongest belief you have, is contrary to all spiritual reasoning. One would think that’s why these people chose the life of priests and pastors. There are 2.4 billion Christians in the world. The opening Olympics ceremony was not an accident. There’s a war against Christianity.
You can say Jesus will prevail. Jesus will save my soul. If that’s the case, why even spend a lifetime preaching Christian scripture? You, in effect, have taken on a role as being the representative of Jesus Christ as the Messiah and savior of mankind. Yet, many men of the cloth seem to be more annoyed if their satellite signals went out during the athletic achievements of Simone Biles or Katie Ledecky.
You might ask what’s my interest since I’m not a Christian? Good point. Because the Judaic-Christian belief system is inclined to spread a sense of morality and goodness. It has built in mechanisms protecting mankind. If someone directly threatened your direct family with physical violence, what would be your response?
The opening ceremony was not an act of promoting an alternate lifestyle. It wasn’t an innocent art show. Does any reasonable person believe that the LGBTQ+ movement benefited by demeaning the belief system of 2.4 billion people? It was a declaration designed to destroy Christianity. Negate everything you believe in.
Pacifism or passivity? You decide.
Peter Degen, Port St. Lucie
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Jai alai, casino loss leaves void, let Port St. Lucie fill it; voting laws; Trump boorish
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